Automatic flash-light apparatus.



I PATENTED FEB. 20,.1906. S. BERENS & A. N. GATZERT. AUTOMATIC FLASH LIGHT APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, 1905.

Mu (2Q sponding parts throughout both the views of residing at La v rrnn STATES STANISLAUS BERENS, OF

' PATENT ()FFlQ.

cnroaeo iLL'iNors.

AUTOMATIC FLASH-LlGHT APPARATUS;

Specification of Letters Patent.

, Patented Feb. 20, 1903,

Application filed June 22, 1905. Serial No. 266,405.

T0 till whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, STANISLAUS BERENS,

Grange, and ABRAHAM N. GAT- ZERT, residin at Chicago, Illinois, citizens of the Unite States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Flash-Light Apparatus, of whichthe following is a specification. I

This invention relates toimprovements in an elec'trothermal apparatus to be used for roducing flash-lights or for automatically intermittently producing'flames of great or less brilliancy to be employed in connection with signs or for other purposes; and it consists in certain peculiarities of the construction, novel arrangement,-'and o eration of the various pints thereof',gas wil be hereinafter more lly set forth and specifically. claimed. 4 i v 1 The principal object of our invention is to provide an a plaratus of the above-named character, who shall be simple and inex ensive in construction, strong,durable and-e ective in operation, and which shall be vso made that it may be readily attached to a gas-fixture of the ordinary construction or easily removed therefrom.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will bedisclosed in the subjoined description and explanation. I In order toenable others skilled in the art to which'our invention pertains, to make and use the same, we will now proceed to'describe it, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a tus embodying lied to a gas-fixture and illustrating by dotted ines the positions the parts will occupy when a full sup ly of gas is turned on to create the brilliant dame and by continuous lines the positions they will occupy when the supply of gas is reduced to a minimum; and Fig. 2 is a vertical central sectional view through the regulating-valve and its casing. 4 Like numerals of reference refer to correperspective view of an apparae drawings.

The reference-numeral 5 designates a gaswhich may be of the ordinary:

pipe or fixture,

- construction and suitably supported. Mountglobular valve-casing Y per portion an internally-screw-threaded exed on the discharging end 0 the pipe 5 is a 6, whichhas in its upthe yoke is ,a metal. stri our invention, showing t ap- 8, which may also beof the ordinar or any preferred construction. Located in t evalvecasing 6 is a valve 9, which is provided vertically with a channel 10, throu h which the gas ma pass from the pipe 5 an which chan- 'nel' registers with a port 11 in the bottom of the casing. As shown in Fig. 2 of the drawin s, the valve 9 is cut away on one of its si es, and the valve-casing 6 is provided with a regulating-screw 12, WlllCh is employed for controlling the' movement of the valve, as will be presently explained. Mounted on the gas-fixture 5 and secured thereto by means of a cli upward y and has on its u per end a lateral cured to a yoke 16, which is provided with an opening 17 to receive the upper portion of the y gas-burner, so that said yoke maybe mounted thereon, as is clearly'shown'in Fig.1 of the drawings. The ends 17 a and 18 of the yoke are upturned, so as to project some distance above the upper end of theburner, and each of said ends or portions is provided with an. opening in which is located an expansible wire 19, which is disposed directly in the path of the heat generated by the flame 20. Secured to but insulated from the arm 18 of 21, with which one end of the wire 19 wi contact when said wire is sufficiently expanded by the heat from the lower end of the contact-piece 21 is a con' source of electric supply. Extendinglaterally from the lower ortion of the bracket 14 and in an opposite irection from the extension 15 is another extension 24,which has its outer end 'upturned and which. together with the upright portion of the bracket 14, forms a support for the electromagnet' 25, which is electrically connected to the battery 23 and yoke 16 by means of conductors 26 and 27, respectively. L The magnet 25 is formed with a central lon itudinal opening in which is movably locate a plunger 28, to

at one of its ends a rod 29, the: other end of which issimilarly connected to one end of a lever 30, which is secured on the stem 31 of the casing 6, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Secured to. the other arm 32 tension 7, in which is screwed the gas-burner 13 is a bracket 14, which extends,

ductor 22, which leads to a battery 23 or the outer end of which is pivotally connected extension 15, which is insu ated from but sethe flame. Connected at one of its ends to the valve 9 and which stem is journaled in i of said lever is a spring 33, which is connected atits other end to an arm 34, which by preference is secured to the clip 13 and extends in parallelism with the horizontal ortion of the,gaspipe at a distance somew at below the same.

From the foregoing and by reference to the drawings it will be seen and readily understood that when the parts are arranged in the ositions shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1 and 1 continuous lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings t e gas will be permitted to flowthrough the channel at full head, and when ignited .the heat from the flame -will cause the wire- 19 to expand until it contacts with the con-' tact-strip 21, which operation will complete the electric circuit, thus energizing the ma net 25, which willretract the plunger 28'within the hollow ofthe magnet, thus turning. the parts to the ositions indicated by continu-j ous lines in 1g. 1 and by dotted lines in Fig.

2 of the drawings, in which operation just h gas will be permitted to pass through the 'c annel 10 to afford a very' small blaze 2.0, which will be located at such a distance from the wire 19 as to have but little, if any,

. heating efiect thereon. When the parts are in said ositions, it is a parent that the wire 19 will ecome' cool and e contracted so as to break the electric current, in which operation the magnet will be denergized and the s rin 33 thr'ou h its connection with the P g 1 g ous lines'in Fig. 2 of the arm 32 of the lever on the Valve-stem 31, will cause the arts to assume the positions illustrated in dhtted lines in Fi l'and by continuawings, thus permitting afull supply of gas to ass through the channel of the valve when t e flame will a ain be increased'and t e-same 0 'eration as ahove described repeated. In or er to regu late the supply of gas when it is'desired to produce a small blaze or light, the set-screw 12 may be turned in the proper direction, so

as to cause a larger or smaller portion of the lower end of the channel 10 to register with path of the heat of the flame, therefrom, an

electromagnet'in circuit with the expansible piece, means connecting the valve and said "magnet whereby thevalve will be turned when the circuit is completed so as to de-,

crease the flow of gas, and a spring connected to the valve to turn the same when the circuit is broken so as to increase the flow of gas, substantially as described.

2. In an automatic flash-light ap aratus, the combination with, a as-fixture, o a regulating-valve for control ing the flow of gas mounted thereon and having a projecting stem, oppositely-extending levers or arms on said stem, a yokemounted on the burner of the fixture, an exp ansible piece carried by the oke, a contact-strip secured to the yoke but insulated therefrom, a battery and a hollow electromagnet electrically connected together, a conductor connecting the magnet and yoke and a conductor connecting the contact-strip and battery, avplunger movably located in the hollow of the magnet and loosely connected to one of the arms on the valve-stem, and a spring connected at one of its ends to the other of said arms and suitably secured at its other end, substantially'as described.

STANISLAUS BERENS. I ABRAHAM N. GATZERT. Witnesses: CHAS. C TILLMAN,

M; A. NYMAN. 

